Giac Lam Pagoda in HCM City needs immediate care to preserve its heritage status. (Source: nld.com.vn) HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City’s authorities need to focuson five solutions to effectively preserve cultural heritage in the city,according to Pham Duc Hai, Standing Vice Chairman of the municipal People’sCouncil.
Experts and local authorities discussed preservation efforts at aprogramme organised by the HCM City People’s Committee and the HCM CityTelevision Station (HTV).
Hai said it was important to strengthen state management to preventthe deterioration of heritage sites, adding that "what is lost cannever return". The role of communities should beenhanced and authorities should speed up the compilation ofrecords about existing relics and heritage sites. These records couldbe used as a basis to develop effective solutions.
HCM City has 172 relic and heritage sites. Documents on each site musthave detailed information about its preservation characteristics tohelp the owner easily maintain, restore and promote the site.
The budget for cultural heritage preservation needs to be increased, and shouldnot just be 500 billion VND (21.6 million USD), Hai said.
Cooperation between domestic and international authorities must bestrengthened as well, he added.
After 320 years of its establishment, the city has preserved manyurban cultural heritage sites but more needs to be done. Some of theseheritage sites could be repurposed and used as tourism products, promotingthe cultural values of HCM City.
According to a report in Nguoi Lao Dong (Labourer) newspaper, of 172relics and heritage sites, 40 have attracted public attention.
Several cultural relics are rich in content as they have a long historicalbackground associated with the typical features of the southernpeople.
Specifically, a number of relics in the city have degraded and even beenencroached upon, including Giac Lam Pagoda in Tan Binh district.
The pagoda has a rich history of more than 250 years, with 113 oldstatues made from jackfruit wood, and many other precious artifacts.
Because the most popular cultural sites such as ReunificationPalace and Notre Dame Cathedral are located in the city centre, thishas resulted in an imbalance of heritage sites citywide.
Although the city’s cultural heritage resources are very diverse, the cityhas yet to develop general or specific plans to determine theirvalue and preserve them accordingly, Hai said.
Management, restoration, conservation and promotion of cultural heritage valuesall need to be improved./.
VNA
